Importance: Neurophysiologic measures of early auditory information processing (EAP) are used as endophenotypes in genomic studies and biomarkers in clinical intervention studies. Research in schizophrenia has established correlations among measures of EAP, cognition, clinical symptoms, and functional outcome. Clarifying these associations by determining the pathways through which deficits in EAP affect functioning would suggest when and where to therapeutically intervene. Objectives: To characterize the pathways from EAP to outcome and to estimate the extent to which enhancement of basic information processing might improve cognition and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia...

BACKGROUND: Exposure to moldy or damp indoor environments is associated with allergic disease in young children, but it is unclear if the effects persist to adolescence. Our objective was to assess if exposure to mold or dampness during infancy increases the risk of asthma, rhinitis, or IgE sensitization in children followed from birth to 16 years of age. METHODS: We collected questionnaire derived reports of mold or dampness indicators and allergic outcomes from 3798 children in a Swedish birth cohort (BAMSE)...

: Men who have sex with men (MSM) represent a disproportionately impacted risk group for HIV incidence among at-risk U.S. POPULATIONS: Few studies have identified risk factors associated with HIV testing frequency both within and outside of traditional health care settings. MSM enrolled in a prospective cohort were mailed at-home specimen collection kits and followed for a year. Incidence density rate ratios (IDRR) of testing were calculated, and generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the association between HIV testing and behavioral factors...

In the context of the Duisburg Birth Cohort, this retrospective cohort study provides results of internal exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) in 156 mother-child pairs, and investigates whether and to what extent in utero exposure of these chemicals at German background levels exerts an effect on newborn and infant weight and length, and weight in relation to length expressed by ponderal index, in order to examine whether any reduction in weight is disproportionate to length...

Few studies have examined the progression of symptom dimensions in schizophrenia patients over the course of the illness. The objective of this study was to investigate whether clinical and psychopathological differences exist between first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and multiple-episode patients in an inpatient setting. Patients (N=203) were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) over time. Five different generalized estimating equations were built for the PANSS factors using the following as covariates: sex, patient's age, assessment time point (i...

OBJECTIVE: Maternal age at birth of last child has been associated with maternal longevity. The aim of this study was to determine whether older women with a history of late maternal age at last childbirth had a longer leukocyte telomere length than those with maternal age at last childbirth of 29 years or less. METHODS: A nested case control study was conducted using data from the Long Life Family Study. Three hundred eighty-seven women who gave birth to at least one child and lived to the top fifth percentile of their birth cohort, or died before the top fifth percentile of their birth cohort died, but were at least 70 years old, were studied...

AIMS: We evaluated a theoretically-derived family-oriented intervention aimed to improve self-efficacy, self-management, glycemic control and quality of life in individuals living with Type 2 diabetes in Thailand. METHODS: In a single-blinded randomized controlled trial, 140 volunteer individuals with Type 2 diabetes, recruited from a diabetes clinic in rural Thailand, were randomly allocated to intervention and control arms. Those in the intervention arm received routine care plus a family-oriented program that included education classes, group discussions, a home visit, and a telephone follow-up while the control arm only received routine care...

The objective of this study was to develop a novel solid self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) using a membrane emulsification technique involving Shirasu porous glass (SPG) which produced very small and uniform emulsion droplets, resulting in enhanced solubility, dissolution and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble cilostazol. The effects of carriers on the drug solubility were assessed, and pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were plotted. Among the liquid SNEDDS formulations tested, the liquid SNEDDS composed of peceol (oil), Tween 20 (surfactant) and Labrasol (cosurfactant) at a weight ratio of 15/55/30, produced the smallest emulsion droplet size...

PURPOSE: To investigate the ability of various internal and external training load (TL) monitoring measures to predict injury incidence amongst positional groups within professional rugby league athletes. METHODS: TL and injury data were collected across 3 seasons (2013-2015) from twenty-five players competing in the National Rugby League competition. Daily TL data were included in the analysis, including session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE-TL), total distance (TD), high-speed running distance (HSD; >5m·s(-1)) and high-metabolic power distance (HPD; >20 W·kg(-1))...

BACKGROUND: Gestational hypertensive diseases (GHD) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. However, the association between gestational medical diseases and familial history of CVD has not been investigated to date. In the present study, we examined the association between familial history of CVD and GHD or GDM via reliable questionnaires in a large cohort of registered nurses. METHODS: The Korean Nurses' Survey was conducted through a web-based computer-assisted self-interview, which was developed through consultation with cardiologists, gynecologists, and statisticians...

BACKGROUND: Acute otitis media (AOM) is an important cause of childhood morbidity and antibiotic prescriptions. However, the relative importance of the well-known otopathogens, Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) and Haemophilus influenzae (Hflu), remains unclear due to a limited number of tympanocentesis-based studies that vary significantly in populations sampled, case definitions, and heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7-CRM) use. METHODS: We conducted a pooled analysis of results from ten AOM etiology studies of similar design the protocols of which were derived from a common protocol and conducted in children 3 months to 5 years of age in different countries...

Longitudinal binomial data are frequently generated from multiple questionnaires and assessments in various scientific settings for which the binomial data are often overdispersed. The standard generalized linear mixed effects model may result in severe underestimation of standard errors of estimated regression parameters in such cases and hence potentially bias the statistical inference. In this paper, we propose a longitudinal beta-binomial model for overdispersed binomial data and estimate the regression parameters under a probit model using the generalized estimating equation method...

BACKGROUND: Poor academic (eg, "I am a bad student") and behavioral (eg, "I am a troublemaker") self-concepts are strongly linked to adolescent substance use. Social networks likely influence self-concept. However, little is understood about the role teachers and athletic coaches play in shaping both academic and behavioral self-concepts. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional surveys of 929 9th-12th grade low-income minority adolescents in Los Angeles assessing self-concept, social networks, and 30-day use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs...

BACKGROUND: This study examines school strategies to educate parents over time about physical activity and nutrition and how those strategies are related to adolescent health behaviors. METHODS: Data from the Minnesota School Health Profiles Lead Health Education Teacher survey (2008-2012) and the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS, 2013) included provisions for parent education about physical activity and nutrition and student physical activity and dietary intake behaviors...

The purpose of this study is to examine what factors contributing to the variability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and asthma hospitalization rates when the influence of patient characteristics is being simultaneously considered by applying a risk adjustment method. A longitudinal analysis of COPD and asthma hospitalization of rural Medicare beneficiaries in 427 rural health clinics (RHCs) was conducted utilizing administrative data and inpatient and outpatient claims from Region 4. The repeated measures of risk-adjusted COPD and asthma admission rate were analyzed by growth curve modeling...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to: (a) describe the extent to which ophthalmologists and glaucoma patients discuss vision quality-of-life during office visits, and (b) examine the association between patient and ophthalmologist characteristics and provider-patient communication about vision quality-of-life. METHODS: Patients with glaucoma who were newly prescribed or on glaucoma medications were recruited at six ophthalmology clinics. Patients' visits were video-tape recorded and quality-of-life communication variables were coded...